


The Apple of Her Eye

by PinguinoSentado



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 02:46:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5810587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinguinoSentado/pseuds/PinguinoSentado
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper is horrified to learn that Nat wants to follow in her footsteps and asks Nora to talk to her.</p>
<p>Prompt fill from anonymous request on Tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Apple of Her Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Fluff piece by sort-of-anonymous request (jess) on Tumblr. Also a good way for me to avoid writer's block on Papergirl. I took some liberties with the prompt but I think the heart of it made it in. Let me know what you think!
> 
> Also, if you see anything horribly wrong, this has not been proofread, so please let me know.

Piper flopped down on the couch and groaned at the ceiling. “Why can’t they ever just listen?”

No one answered, reassuring Piper she had not actually gone mad. The house was empty. Nora was out being Nora and Nat was out being Nat, leaving Piper alone in Diamond City to be Piper. Another groan escaped her churning stomach. She wished she could trade roles with one of them.

Nora had a nice job cut out for herself. She scavenged in the Commonwealth, saved innocent people by the score, and got to play the dashing hero with the charming smile. Nat had it even better. The smartest of the three, she was making a name for herself around Diamond City by being the hard-working, hard-studying little girl that wanted nothing more than the prosperity of her home. It would not be long before she ended up on billboards with big letters under her name declaring her a model citizen.

Piper chuckled to herself. Her little sister could run for mayor. She would have at least two guaranteed votes. And it would give the Publick something fun to print for once.

“What’s wrong, Piper?”

Piper nearly jumped through the roof. “Nat!” she turned to find the little girl peeking out of her corner. “I thought you were in school! What are you doing home?”

“Got out early,” Nat said from her corner.

Piper leaned over the couch. “What are you doing back there?”

“Nothing.”

This time, Piper’s groan was entirely false. “My own little sister lying to me? What do you have back there, miscreant? Chems? A dog? A boyfriend?”

“No!” Nat shouted, though Piper was not sure which one had set her off. Hopefully not the dog. Then she really would need to have a talk with her.

“Ha!” Piper leapt to her feet. “You should know better than to hide the truth from me! The Publick, voice of the people, will not rest until the truth is known!”

Piper stopped as she rounded the corner. Nat was quickly stashing something under her pillow, one of Nora’s many gifts to the girl. Sometimes Piper wondered who the woman loved more. She never dwelled on it long. In a competition between Piper and her little sister, Piper would always lose.

The little girl looked up, terrified as her sister towered triumphantly over her. “Come clean, criminal, and the Publick may take pity on you.”

“It’s nothing!” Nat squeaked in terror.

Now Piper really was curious. She leaned down and tossed the pillow aside. “You should know better than to lie to –“

What she found stopped her in her tracks. Horror blanched her face. “Oh, Nat.”

 

Nora wandered into Diamond City near midday, a smile on her lips and a bounce in her step. She was still not used to going somewhere and actually being happy to get there. It was a strange, otherworldly sensation that made the journey seem almost worthwhile. Such a feeling should not have been so uncommon, but it had taken a very uncommon woman to create those feelings in the first place.

She jaunted her way down the steps, one hand in her coat pocket. She had found yet another shameless bribe for Piper’s little sister in her never-ending quest to win their favor. Gifts for Nat seemed to come more easily than those for Piper. Every time she went into the wastes, she kept her eyes open, but nothing ever really stood out. A camera seemed too easy, a new pen too common, and a new printing press too likely to incite riots in the streets. That last, thought Nora, would at least give Piper a few moments of entertainment.

Only at the bottom of the stairs did Nora notice the woman herself standing under the glowing Publick Occurrences signage. She was leaning with one boot up against the wall, arms folded, her hat shielding her eyes from the worst of the sun as her head lolled to the side, her gaze wandering the market. Nora stared shamelessly and did not try to restrain the fond smile that always crept over her lips.

Nora crept up behind her and settled quietly against the wall. “You know,” she said, watching Piper jump. “Looking at you like this, no one would ever believe how much trouble you cause around here.”

Piper laughed and thanked Nora for the compliment by shoving her into the wall. “Where have you been?”

“Oh, spreading your good word,” Nora laughed. She had only been gone a few days, but she always missed Piper. Even after an hour. It should have been more concerning than it was.

“Convert anyone to the good book of Piper?”

“Yeah, a few actually really seemed to like it,” Nora said. When Piper raised her eyebrows, Nora’s grin broadened. “Saw a big pack of feral ghouls out there. I gave them a copy of the Publick and they ate it up! Ripped right into it. That counts, right?”

Piper was about to throttle Nora when she put her hands up in surrender. “Wait! Look what I found!”

Nora reached into her pocket and produced the gift for Nat. Piper forgot all about murdering her for one brief moment. “Pencils?”

“Colored pencils,” Nora touted. “Not an easy find, these days. And look,” she produced a stack of fresh paper from her pack. Piper’s eyes gleamed. “No, not for you. They’re so Nat has something to draw on that doesn’t have the words ‘Synth’, ‘kidnapping’, or ‘catastrophe’ already printed on it somewhere.”

Her loot proudly displayed, Nora waited for the fawning accolades of the lovely girl she tried so hard to impress. They never came. Piper slumped back against the wall. “They’re perfect.”

The leaden tone did little for Nora’s ego. “What’s wrong?”

Piper sighed. “It’s Nat.”

Nora snapped to attention. “Is she alright?”

“I don’t know,” Piper looked at the ground, her face sickly. “She’s… can you talk to her?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, I can’t. Not about this.”

Nora did her best not to look terrified. “Yeah. Yeah, I can talk to her. Are you alright?”

Piper shook her head. “Just talk to her.”

Not sure what she had gotten herself in to, Nora walked into Publick Occurrences alone. The door closed quietly behind her. Setting her rifle by the door, she unlimbered her pack and scarf, setting both somewhere their dust would go unnoticed.

A few seconds after she began setting her things down, she heard scuffling in the corner of the room. Nora, despite being afraid for the little girl, still beamed when she saw her poke out from inside her nook. “Nora!”

“Hey you!” Nora walked over, meeting the little girl halfway across the room. Nat was grinning and that only made Nora’s smile wider. “I got you something.”

Nat bounced up and down. “What’d you get me?”

Nora produced the pencils and paper. Nat squeaked as she took them, as reverently as a priest touching her holy book. “Wow,” she whispered. “Thank you!”

Only Nat had more sway over Nora’s emotions than Piper. Nora blushed furiously and said something incoherent while Nat fawned over what was beyond a doubt the least extravagant gift she had ever given anyone.

“Where’s your sister?” Nora asked after she had calmed herself down. Whatever was going on, it was probably best if Nat did not know Piper was behind it.

Nat huffed. “She left. She was acting weird.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

Nat looked at the floor. “She found the article I wrote.”

Nora nearly burst out laughing. That was what this was about? “Can I see it?”

The girl was off like a shot, only pausing long enough to carefully set her treasured office supplies down without hurting them. Then she was back, a handwritten article in hand. Nora smiled at the well-mimicked banner of Publick Occurrences that Diamond City dwellers loved to hate. In better days, the girl could have grown up to be an artist.

Nora read the headline. “School’s Food Very Radioactive.”

“It is!” Nat insisted. “I borrowed a rad counter from the Science Center and ran tests! The food at school has higher radiation than what we have in the market!”

The girl’s face was one of undiminished pride. Nora was just impressed. Nat had even thought to go find a Geiger counter, apparently without even knowing what it was, and test the food in question against a control. It was like looking at a tiny Piper.

Nora blinked as the thought struck her. She looked at Nat, finally seeing the girl as a person instead of as Nat. She saw the red coat, the scarf, and even the fingerless gloves. Only then did it strike home why Piper was so rattled. There she was. Piper in miniature.

Oh, the hell she would give Piper for this.

“You look up to Piper, don’t you?”

It was a stupid thing to say and Nat gave her the look she deserved. “Of course.”

“Me too,” Nora admitted easily. “She’s very brave. She looks out for everyone here, even when no one wants her to.”

Nat was nodding enthusiastically. “That’s what I want to do. She does so much good.”

“She does,” again Nora admitted it easily. The woman was not around to gloat so there was little harm. “But it’s also very dangerous. More dangerous than me fighting Deathclaws outside the Wall.”

Nat rolled her eyes. “You sound like her,” she snatched the paper back from Nora in exasperation. “I’m not a little kid. I know what I’m doing.”

“We know,” Nora said. “And I know Piper would be proud of you for it. But she’s worried for you, too.”

“Why?”

“Well, she takes on a lot of dangerous people,” Nora said in an understatement so severe it was almost laughable. “Keeping her safe is almost a full-time job. It’s something she does because she has to, because no one else will, not because she wants to. It’s not a life she would want for you.”

Nat looked heartbroken and Nora panicked. “She still loves you,” Nora blurted. “She’ll always love you. And, if you want to go around fighting evil like she does, we’ll both be there for you.”

That calmed her down a bit. Nora felt all the blood rushing to her head. Somewhere, there was a book on parenting no one had ever shown her. Her former husband had read it front to back and could recite it from memory. She missed him for that.

“Listen,” Nora tried again. “You’re smart. Way smarter than Piper.” Nat grinned at that. “You can do so much more than write angry papers like she does. While she’s off making people angry, you can be here, making sure people have food and water that isn’t radioactive. You don’t need to paper the streets with it. You can tell someone. They probably don’t know. If you find out what’s wrong, you can study, learn how to fix it.”

Nat was looking at her oddly. “You think so?”

“Not everyone is a bad guy trying to knock the Wall down or poison you slowly,” Nora said, imagining Piper’s reaction to what she would consider a boldfaced lie. “Let your sister handle them. When you’re her age, you can do more good than she ever could. That’s why she runs the paper.”

Nat was playing with her greenish scarf. “Okay,” she turned away, her eyes lighting again on Nora’s gift. “You’ll tell her, though, won’t you? About the food?”

Nora smiled. “Of course.”

With a grin, Nat bounded off to create more artwork. Nora busied herself about the kitchen for a few moments until she was satisfied Nat was not creating any more inflammatory articles, then slipped out the door.

Piper was nowhere to be seen. Nora, peering up and down the street and seeing no angry mobs, began wandering aimlessly. She understood the woman’s worry over losing her family. That was something Nora was all too familiar with. Watching Nat take up a profession that had nearly killed Piper so many times would be more than enough to rattle the seasoned journalist.

Walking by the noodle bar, Nora spotted the familiar red trench coat that marked the prettiest girl in the Commonwealth. With an easy smile, Nora swung herself onto the stool beside her. “Hey, gorgeous.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Ease up, Blue. I’m distraught.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Nora said, ordering herself a bowl of noodles and one of the seemingly endless Nuka Colas. “Your sister and I had a good talk. She looks up to you, that’s all.”

“I don’t want this life for her,” Piper said into her food. “Look at us. How many times a day do you worry about me? Every time you go out of the city, tell me you don’t wonder if you’ll never see me again. I know I do. I have to fight saying goodbye every time you walk out that gate.”

Nora looked at the bar but said nothing. She was right. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Piper sighed. “I don’t mean it like that. I love that you’re out there saving people – I wouldn’t have it any other way – I just know that things would be easier if you gave up your wandering and I gave up the paper and we just…” Piper waved at the air. “Were normal.”

“Normal?” Nora picked up a fork and poked at her noodles, wondering what normal was in this world. “I don’t think I know how to do that.”

Piper chuckled. “Me neither, but I’ve heard good things.”

The noodles, rubbery as they were, gave Nora a chance to ponder the woman sitting beside her. She still had a family. Nora had lost hers. What would she do if Shaun were here, thinking of taking after dear old mom by slaying Deathclaws? What would she tell him?

“I don’t want to lose her,” Piper said softly.

Nora looked over at the bleak but beautiful woman. “You won’t.”

“Thanks, Blue, I feel loads better,” Piper muttered.

“You won’t,” Nora repeated. “Did you see her? With the scarf? All she was missing was the hat and she could have passed as your double. She idolizes you, Piper. She just wants to be more like you.”

“I know, that’s why I’m here, drowning my sorrows in noodles. She’s going to get herself killed.”

“And we can tell her that,” Nora said. “In a more refined way, hopefully, but we can tell her that getting into the newspaper business is dangerous. When she’s older, maybe tell her about the time the Children of Atom almost executed you. But it’s her decision. If she wants to go down that road, then she’s going to need her big sister there to help her.”

Piper gave her a hopeless look. “So, what, just give her advice and… be there for her?”

“It’s what I would do,” Nora said quietly. “Just love her.”

It was Piper’s turn to chew and ponder and wash down the sewer water with a radioactive chaser. Her eyes stayed on the bar as Nora’s wandered the market. No new articles hung from any of the stalls. Maybe that was why Nat had written her own. Piper was probably miserable with no one to chase down and Nat just wanted to help.

“Just love her,” Piper echoed quietly. She looked up at Nora. “Thanks, Blue.”

Nora nodded solemnly. “You can’t risk losing your family, Piper. Especially not when it’s Nat.”

Piper laughed at that. Not a boisterous, humorous laugh, but a knowing one. She tipped her bottle to Nora. “Especially not when it’s Nat.”

Content that the world was safe for another day, Nora dug into her dinner with abandon. She had discovered that to be one of the benefits of wandering the Wasteland. Whenever she came home, shoveling down terrible food became less a chore than a privilege. This was, of course, unless Piper was feeling up to cooking. On those rare occasions when she did set foot in the kitchen, Nora made sure not to leave home for the rest of the day.

It was a few minutes before Piper acknowledged the impish grin on Nora’s face. “What?” she asked, plainly annoyed.

“Can I talk about the scarf now?”

“No.”

Nora ignored her. “She looked exactly like you! Tiny Piper!”

“Oh, for the love of –“

“She even had the gloves! One of you is bad enough, but two? It was terrifying!”

Piper turned on her stool. “I swear, if you say one more word, you’re back on the couch.”

Nora mulled this over before carefully leaning toward her. “I think I gave you some good advice today. That’s worth something, right?”

Those angry eyes narrowed. “Fine. One more.”

“They’d never see you coming.”

Piper’s spoon clattered in the bowl as she pushed herself up. “That’s it. That’s the last time I let you in on my personal problems.”

Nora stood with her and caught her in her arms. “Come on. You love me.”

Piper leaned away, a small smile playing at her lips. “Yeah. Maybe. A little.”

At long last, Piper leaned in for a kiss. Nora bent to meet her. This was how it was meant to be. Piper smiled against her lips. “You know, I think Nat really upset me today.”

“Yeah?”

Piper started playing with Nora’s jacket, pressing herself so close she was practically wearing it. “Yeah. Might need to kick her out for the night. Teach her some sense.”

Nora laughed softly. “Family first, right? It’s for her own good.”

They, of course, did not kick Nat out. Having every intention to, they marched into Publick Occurrences and, within seconds, were overwhelmed by the little girl. She did not even have to do anything more than sit in her corner and color. Piper fawned over her and Nora, happily forgotten, watched from the couch. She still got Piper all to herself once they turned in for the night. As long as she fell asleep holding the girl with the press cap, she found it hard to care about anything else.


End file.
